Lockdown: Labourers should stay back, says Pune collector
Pune collector Naval Kishore Ram said 68,000 people inthe district, including migrant workers, students, families,have sought permission to travel, and state-wiseclassification of these applicants was underway.
Ram, however, said sending migrant workers back totheir native places was not the ultimate goal.
"We have given permission to resume constructionactivities in the district, and at this time we do not expectthat the labour force should go out of Pune. So we need tothink about how to stop them from going out of the city," hesaid.
He said migrant labourers will be medically screenedbefore being sent back, adding that 1000-2000 people have sofar been sent back to their native districts in the state.
He said controlling the COVID-19 situation, in termsof cases and deaths, was vital.
"I am sure the number of cases will increase for thenext few days, but at the same time, there is a need tocontain the death rate. Despite havinga number of criticalpatients, one or two deaths are reported from Sassoon Generalhospital. But at the same time, the number of deaths reportedfrom private hospitals is increasing," he added.
He said there as a need to ascertain why the number ofdeaths in private hospitals was high.
Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said, inorder to avoid incidents like the one in Aurangabad where 16labourers were run over by a train, district authorities willensure transportation of migrants to railway boarding points. SPKBNM BNM